Unemployment rate
4.2%
-0.7 pp vs Aug
unchanged vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Phoenix metro economy by the numbers
The Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metropolitan area is shown here through Maricopa County and Pinal County: Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Glendale, Tempe, Peoria and Casa Grande. These are the official monthly and quarterly numbers for the metro's jobs, housing, wages and prices, each one dated and linked to its source, updated the day the agency publishes.
Unemployment rate
4.2%
Sep 2026 · unchanged from a year earlier
Next metro jobs releaseDec 2, 202610:00 ETFull calendar →
Unemployment
4.2%
Sep 2026 · unchanged y/y
Payrolls y/y
1.0%
Sep 2026 · +1.2 pp y/y
House prices y/y
0.9%
Q2 2026 · -1.0 pp y/y
Listing price
$475,000
Sep 2026 · -4.8% y/y
Weekly wages
$1,493
Q1 2026 · +3.8% y/y
CPI y/y
3.8%
Sep 2026 · +0.5 pp y/y
Jobs
Civilian labor force
2,662,258
-0.3% vs Aug
-3.9% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Nonfarm payroll employment
2,480.6K
-0.0% vs Aug
+1.0% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Payroll employment, year over year
1.0%
+0.1 pp vs Aug
+1.2 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Housing
Housing units authorized by building permits
1,476
-58.5% vs Aug
-42.6% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro)
FHFA house price index (all transactions)
517.1
-0.4% vs Q1
+0.8% vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro)
House prices, year over year
0.9%
-1.5 pp vs Q1
-1.0 pp vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro)
Median listing price
$475,000
unchanged vs Aug
-4.8% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Active listings
18,437
+4.1% vs Aug
+7.5% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Median days on market
62
-7.5% vs Aug
-4.6% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Wages
Average weekly wages, all covered employment
$1,493
+1.1% vs Q4
+3.8% vs Q1 2025
Q1 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro)
Prices
Consumer prices, West region, year over year
3.8%
+0.3 pp vs Aug
+0.5 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Consumer Price Index, West region, all items
Unemployment by county
| County | Rate | Year ago | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maricopa County | 4.1% | 4.1% | unchanged |
| Pinal County | 4.8% | 4.9% | -0.1 pp |
Sep 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
Why Phoenix
Phoenix is the test case for semiconductor fabs, data centers and in-migration meeting a housing market that doubled in price in six years. Permits, listings and days on market show whether supply has caught up. The West region CPI is used here; the BLS Phoenix index is bi-monthly.
Questions readers ask
- What is the unemployment rate in Phoenix?
- The Phoenix metro unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Local Area Unemployment Statistics figure for the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metropolitan statistical area, not seasonally adjusted, published about six weeks after the month ends. The headline at the top of this page is the latest print; the county table shows how Maricopa County and Pinal County compare.
- How many jobs does the Phoenix metro have?
- Nonfarm payroll employment counts jobs on employer payrolls in the metro, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, from the BLS Current Employment Statistics survey. The year-over-year line shows whether hiring is accelerating or slowing; it is the cleanest single read on the local labor market.
- Are Phoenix home prices going up or down?
- Two measures are shown. The FHFA house price index tracks repeat sales of the same homes each quarter, so it measures price change rather than the mix of what sold. The Realtor.com median listing price is the monthly asking price of homes on the market; with active listings and days on market it shows how the market feels to a buyer today.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- Every series is a public federal statistic (BLS, Census Bureau, FHFA) or Realtor.com's monthly housing inventory, retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database. Each figure links to its source series. MarketIntelLabs computes the year-over-year changes and writes the fact sheet; nothing on this page is estimated or modelled.
Fact sheet
Every figure above, as one dated sentence each. This is the text our desk writes from; a local newsroom may quote it with attribution to the source named in each line.
- Phoenix metro unemployment rate: 4.2% in September 2026, unchanged from 4.2% in September 2025; prior reading 4.9% (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro civilian labor force: 2,662,258 in September 2026, down 3.9% from 2,770,783 in September 2025; prior reading 2,670,239 (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro nonfarm payroll employment: 2,480.6 thousand in September 2026, up 1.0% from 2,456.2 thousand in September 2025; prior reading 2,480.7 thousand (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro payroll employment, year over year: 1.0% in September 2026, up 1.2 percentage points from -0.2% in September 2025; prior reading 0.9% (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro housing units authorized by building permits: 1,476 in September 2026, down 42.6% from 2,570 in September 2025; prior reading 3,554 (August 2026). Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro FHFA house price index (all transactions): 517.1 in Q2 2026, up 0.9% from 512.8 in Q2 2025; prior reading 519.0 (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro house prices, year over year: 0.9% in Q2 2026, down 1.0 percentage point from 1.9% in Q2 2025; prior reading 2.4% (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro median listing price: $475,000 in September 2026, down 4.8% from $499,000 in September 2025; prior reading $475,000 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro active listings: 18,437 in September 2026, up 7.5% from 17,144 in September 2025; prior reading 17,707 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro median days on market: 62 in September 2026, down 4.6% from 65 in September 2025; prior reading 67 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro average weekly wages, all covered employment: $1,493 in Q1 2026, up 3.8% from $1,439 in Q1 2025; prior reading $1,477 (Q4 2025). Source: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Phoenix metro consumer prices, West region, year over year: 3.8% in September 2026, up 0.5 percentage points from 3.3% in September 2025; prior reading 3.5% (August 2026). Source: BLS Consumer Price Index, West region, all items, via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Maricopa County unemployment rate: 4.1% in September 2026, unchanged from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Pinal County unemployment rate: 4.8% in September 2026, down 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
Fact sheet id cb51690df9dd · data through Sep 2026
Sources: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro); BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro); Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro); FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro); Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro); BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro); BLS Consumer Price Index, West region, all items. Official statistics retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database; MarketIntelLabs computes the changes shown. Nothing on this page is estimated.
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